Name: Lotus Root Salad with Spicy Thai Vinaigrette
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 4 tbsp/60 ml. canola or other neutral oil; ¼ small sweet onion such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, cut into wedges ¼ in/6 mm thick; ½ cup/30 g lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves; 1 small jalapeño chile, stemmed, halved lengthwise, seeded, deribbed, and thinly sliced (see Cook’s Note); ⅛ tsp. Freshly ground pepper; ¼ tsp. granulated sugar; 2 tsp. Asian fish sauce; 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard; 1 tbsp sambal oelek (see Cook’s Note); 1 small garlic clove, minced; 1 tsp. Asian sesame oil; 1 cup/85 g coarsely shredded napa cabbage; 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, quartered, cored, and cut lengthwise into slices ¼ in/6 mm thick; 6 tbsp/90 ml. fresh lime juice; 10 oz/280 g lotus root, ends trimmed, peeled, and cut into slices ⅛ in/3 mm. thick; ¼ tsp. kosher or fine sea salt

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Roots

By Diane Morgan

Published 2012

About

Lotus root and water chestnuts are both white and have a similar crisp texture. But lotus root delivers something that water chestnuts cannot: tremendous beauty. Its flowerlike slices turn this salad into “art in a bowl.” Bright green cilantro leaves and chile slices and deep red specks of sambal oelek provide a nice contrast to the snow white lotus root rounds.